Alistair's Time Machine
"Alistair's Time Machine" is Episode 1 in Season 9. It originally aired on September 16, 1991. Synopsis The episode begins with LeVar visiting a park. But it's not just any park. He is in Discovery Park, where you get to see inventors from different time periods. First, he meets one from the Stone Age. She looks like a caveperson and her name is Glug. She has just finished inventing the bowl for carrying things in and she helps herself to some rock soup. It seems like her family had some great ideas for inventions, all except for her brother, Duh. She shows LeVar his invention - a big, round circular slab of stone with a hole in the middle. He gets excited when he sees it and thinks Duh invented the wheel, but Glug has ideas of her own. She says it's a nutcracker, but it doesn't go too well. Next, she tries it out as a bug-flattener, but that doesn't go too well either. Then she thinks it's a doughnut, but it doesn't taste good. LeVar tries helping her with it. When she gets the idea, he gets excited thinking that he's actually going to see the invention of the wheel. Unfortunately, she tosses it in the air, calls it a Frisbee, and chases after it laughing. It seems to LeVar that some inventions were made for one purpose, but used for another. Sometimes when an inventor comes up with an idea, no one could appreciate how incredible it can be. In the title book, it shows exactly what he says. LeVar asks the viewers what they could invent and here are the ideas: a pocket-sized time machine, an automatic dog walker, a car that can fly, a hair-washing machine, wall-walking shoes, and a cleaning-up machine for your room. LeVar explains, "Just because an invention is a good idea, it doesn't mean it will catch on." He shows the viewers a film about ones that never really made it. They include an airphibian, a grapefruit mask, an air condition suit, and a walking chair (which was once a rocking chair), among many others. LeVar gets excited when he meets the next inventor, who happens to be Thomas Edison, one of the most famous ones. Some of his inventions include the light bulb and the record player. Surprisingly, he makes the latter into a boom box and a Walkman. He does a little rap while listening to the music. Then he has another inventive idea. He talks the record off the player and tosses it in the air like...well...a Frisbee. LeVar is expecting to meet an inventor from the future, but he hasn't arrived yet. When he hears a voice, he thinks that a tree is talking. He sees it turn into a robot-like machine. He tries explaining who he was going to meet. The machine reads his mind and he gets amazed at what it did. He asks it what he's wondering now and it says, "You're wondering who invented me." It invented itself. It asks LeVar to push the red button to see what would happen. When he does so, a storm starts to blow. It tells him to press the orange button and an umbrella appears. It then tells him to press the green button and the storm stops. He asks it what else it can do and it tells him to push the tiny yellow button. He does just that and he becomes younger. It is just playing a joke. He presses the blue button and he returns back to his normal age. He is amazed that it can do so much and asks what its name is. Its name is, believe it or not, Frisbee. It tells him that it has one more it can do. It asks him to press the gold star. He isn't sure if he should at first, but Frisbee convinces him anyway. It says, "Inventing means taking risks," and he agrees with what it says. After he presses the star, he starts to disappear a little at a time. Before he vanishes completely, he says goodbye to the viewers. Frisbee disappears after him. Review Books *The Many Lives of Benjamin Franklin *What Does It Do?: Inventions Then and Now *Find Waldo Now Category:Season 9 Category:Episodes